emergency use authorization

noun

variants or less commonly Emergency Use Authorization

plural emergency use authorizations also Emergency Use Authorizations

: an authorization granted by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration during a public health emergency that allows for the use of a drug or other medical product prior to its full approval

Under section 564 of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (FD&C Act), when the Secretary of HHS declares that an emergency use authorization is appropriate, FDA may authorize unapproved medical products or unapproved uses of approved medical products to be used in an emergency …

—fda.gov

Especially during a shortage, much of the red tape needs to be cut away, much as formal review processes for new vaccines and drugs gave way to Emergency Use Authorizations during the pandemic.

—Marc Siegel

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration on Tuesday granted emergency use authorization for the Pfizer booster for this age group …

—Aidin Vaziri

called also EUA

Examples of emergency use authorization in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

In addition to the layoff news, Cue reported on Jan. 4 that its submission to the FDA for its Flu A/B + COVID-19 molecular test for over-the-counter and point-of-care use was denied for emergency use authorization. —Natallie Rocha, San Diego Union-Tribune, 2 Feb. 2024

Early on, using powers granted by the public health emergency, the FDA required labs to apply for emergency use authorization. —Lizzy Lawrence, STAT, 18 Jan. 2024

In May 2020, Quidel received the first emergency use authorization from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for its at-home COVID-19 antigen test. —Natallie Rocha, San Diego Union-Tribune, 22 Feb. 2024

The approval came as an emergency use authorization on December 11, 2020, after clinical trials showed the vaccine was 95% effective in preventing COVID-19.1 Pfizer and the German immunotherapy company BioNTech began working together on the COVID-19 vaccine in March 2020. —Geetika Gupta, Verywell Health, 15 Mar. 2023

Ivermectin and hydroxychloroquine were discredited as COVID-19 treatments so COVID vaccines could be granted emergency use authorization, a win for Big Pharma. —Tribune News Service, Hartford Courant, 4 Jan. 2024

The treatment would be experimental—there were no known cases of intravenous phage therapy in the US at the time, according to Strathdee—so Patterson’s clinical team requested emergency use authorization from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). —Popular Science, 12 Oct. 2023

That could tee up a potential emergency use authorization from the Food and Drug Administration to make the drug available by the end of the year, when another fall and winter resurgence of COVID-19 is expected. —Alexander Tin, CBS News, 28 Apr. 2023

This method was also used for the three COVID-19 vaccines that received approval or emergency use authorization (EUA) from the FDA. —Michael Menna, Verywell Health, 19 Oct. 2023

Word History

First Known Use

2003, in the meaning defined above

Medical Definition

emergency use authorization

noun

variants also Emergency Use Authorization

: an authorization granted by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration during a public health emergency that allows for the use of a drug or medical product prior to its full approval

During the 2009 influenza A (H1N1) pandemic, the Food and Drug Administration granted emergency use authorization of IV neuraminidase inhibitors for hospitalized patients with influenza, creating a need for rapid decision analyses to help guide use.

—Bruce Y. Lee et al., The American Journal of Managed Care

Based on these initial findings, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has issued an Emergency Use Authorization for the emergency use of remdesivir for the treatment of hospitalized COVID-19 patients.

—Richard T. Eastman et al., American Chemical Society Central Science

called also EUA